Our first baby will be born soon (from now till in maximally two weeks). We have the idea to travel to my family-in-law in southern Italy several weeks after the birth to stay with them for a month or more to get their help and be in a nice place. Everything of course depending on fitness of mom and baby.

I was just wondering when would be a good time to leave as I don't want to interfere with typical postnatal check-up schedules for both the newborn and her mom. I know of a baby check up after a month, so we were thinking of leaving some six weeks after delivery.

Can anyone help us out with what other check-ups and vaccinations are normally done and when?

In general mom and baby will stay five days at the hospital, which allows doctors and mid-wives to follow the baby right after birth. If baby is doing well then there won't be any more follow-up until the baby's one-month appointment with her/his pediatrician. If there is some sort of complication (jaundice, baby not feeding well, etc.) then a midwife will be sent to your house even after the five day hospital stay.

You can choose to go home earlier, in which case a mid-wife will come to your house for a couple of visits, even if the baby is doing fine. We went home 12 hours after the birth of our second child and the midwife came 2-3 times within the first week.